Posts and ramblings of Aquarium-loving South African Asatruar/Heathen Karl Andresson. Will post anything that may tickle my fancy. Original posts as well as many reblogs. All media belong to their respective owners – unless stated otherwise, and will be removed if the owners show any objections as to the use of their property.

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From the Highest Peaks of Midgaard Where the Sons of Men Do Hold, To the Killing Chill of Niflheim The Land of Ice and Cold. To the Furnace Blast of Muspelheim Where Flame Leaps Far and Nigh, Nothing Born of Yggdrasil Escapes the Ravens Eye.

Down To the Depths of Svartalfheim Where Stone and Anvil Call, Unto High Liossalfheim Where Dark Ne’er Comes at All. High Up Over Jotunheim Where Giants Hold Their Court, All the Deeds of Every Land The Ravens Sift and Sort.

To the Heights of Vanaheim Where Elder Gods do Roam, Unto the Deepest Reach of Hel Where Spirits Make Their Home. And Last Up Into Asgaards Halls Where They May Find Their Havens, For It Is Known, Though All Men Fall, The Gods Do Keep the Ravens.

(A poem written by ThorinRuriksson of Reddit to help you learn the nine realms. Original Post. ThorinRuriksson…

I must confess to a youth as a stamp collector (yes, I did spend hours in the dark closet, trying to find out if a stamp was florescent or not) and when the Oseberg Viking ship project (I`ve written about them in an earlier blog post) started posting pictures of stamps with the Oseberg ship on them on their Facebook page, I just had to repost those pictures – and add some of my own:

I`ll start out with Canada – a country that shares some of our Viking history, as I wrote about in my previous blog post. I`m not sure how old this stamp is but it`s beautiful with the Oseberg ship and the old map.

Freo is identical with freo, meaning free. It is from the Germanic frijaz meaning “beloved, belonging to the loved ones, not in bondage, free”.

Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation). She is identified with the Norse god Freya. She is leader of the Valkyries and one of the Vanir. She is confused in Germany with Frigg.

Frigg (Frigga) is the Teutonic goddess of clouds, the sky, and conjugal (married) love. She is identified with Frigg, the Norse goddess of love and the heavens and the wife of Odin. She is one of the…

LYING crookedly in a shallow grave, its bones have existed undiscovered for more than 1,000 years.
But the discovery of this ancient skeleton could shed new light on the history of the Vikings in Wales

The unearthing skeleton in at Llanbedrgoch on Anglesey has given historians important new clues on the impact of both Anglo-Saxons and Vikings operating around the Irish Sea.
Archaeologists from the National Museum Wales said the burial find is an unexpected addition to a group of five – two adolescents, two adult males and one woman – discovered in 1998-99.
Originally thought to be victims of Viking raiding, which began in the 850s, this interpretation is now being revised. The unusual non-Christian positioning of the body, and its treatment, point to distinctions being made in the burial practices for Christians and other…

A very good friend of mine is a Celtic Reconstructionist, focusing on Irish tradition and folklore. We recently had a long discussion about why he refuses to join any organizations around the Atlanta area. His objections boil down to the consistent mandate for “ritual garb” like long robes and how he simply finds these things to be impediments to his experiencing his faith on a deeper emotional level. Additionally, the style of dress isn’t historically accurate. Instead, it’s very Victorian in the depiction of “druids” and bears no semblance of reality to what the people actually wore. In short, his is a modern faith rooted in the past but it is not an anachronistic faith that is trying to look the part as someone else envisions it. We both concur on the idea that our ancestors didn’t play dress up and put on clothing that predated their time, only that…

Today I am interviewing the artist behind Idis Örlög. An Idis is a spirit of a Nordic Ancestor – a guide and protector of destiny. Idis Örlög is a musical journey to roots, a medium through which ancestral spirits communicate, sharing their wisdom through the spontaneity of song.

So let’s start at the beginning, How did Idis Örlög start?

(Source: Idis Örlög Facebook)

So Idis Örlög began with a strike of inspiration. I realized our pagan ancestors have a lot to tell us, a lot we can learn from and this remains unknown due to Christianity’s hold over Europe, and following “re-writing” of history. The idises are female guardian spirits who watch over their kin, their descendants. It is said they can intervene in the lives of their descendants in a positive way, to defend or guide them. I felt like there was this feminine spirit of the north guiding this music…

FFFbone posted a link to this amazing list of 10 creatures in Scandinavian Folklore at the Random-Fandom . These are all creatures that are ingrained in our culture – especially the Norwegian culture which seems to have taken these creatures much more to heart than, for instance, the modern Danish culture. If my son spends too much time in the bathroom (it happens 😉 ), I ask him if “do-draugen” has taken him. “Do” is the Norwegian word for toilet ( “loo” is a better translation if one is splitting hairs).

10 Creatuers in Scandinavian Folklore by Rebecca Winther-Sørensen

Read the list here The Scandinavian Folklore consists of a huge variety of creatures, good or evil, which have frightened people for centuries. They were often meant to scare children, but even today they are essential and important to the modern northern society. In the 1890s, something changed in the way…